Gokuism – The Church of Goku
Dear friend, have you accepted Goku as your personal lord and savior? If not, then please listen to my Good News! The Church of Goku can help you increase your power level to Over 9,000 and follow in the sacred footsteps of lord Goku by training with King Kai, hallowed be thy name.
That’s right, there is now a Dragon Ball religion. It is called Gokuism, also known as The Church of Goku.
Gokuism is the belief that the principles of Dragon Ball provide a moral compass for one’s life, and that Goku is an ideal role model and moralistic person. By some definitions, it implies that Goku provides personal, global, and universal salvation, and that his death and resurrections were for our sake.
With so many religions already existing, why create this one based on Dragon Ball?
In today’s blog post you’ll learn where Gokuism came from, what its practitioners believe, and explore some thought provoking questions about this new faith.
continue …
Spirit Possession in Dragon Ball
Would you be willing to trade your soul to achieve worldly desires, or in exchange for more power? What about allowing your body to be controlled by God, or a demon?
In Dragon Ball, Akira Toriyama incorporates spirit possession as a way to propel character development and plot.
This article explores how Toriyama was inspired by ancient belief systems and spirit possession traditions.
continue …
Shaolin Summit 2011
Derek Padula at the Shaolin Summit 2011
I attended the 1st Shaolin Summit as a reporter for The Epoch Times Newspaper and interviewed the Head Abbot of the Shaolin Temple, Shi Yongxin.
As a practitioner of Shaolin Gong Fu for over 12 years, and a student of East Asian studies, I thought it would be a lot of fun to go there, learn some new things and meet some good people.
The result was mixed.
Suffering Succotash
Ignorance is suffering.
To remedy ignorance one desires knowledge.
One suffers to achieve knowledge.
Yet knowledge is complex and burdensome.
Truth without attachment is ease.
One lets go of the attachment to knowledge.
Free of suffering.
Filled with emptiness.
Divine Combat – Zenkai Power
Super Saiyan Goku
In this excerpt from The Dao of Dragon Ball we will learn more about the martial arts as depicted in Dragon Ball.
There are many concepts that are disclosed in this chapter, such as Qi (Ki), Gong, Divine Powers, and how the popular conception of Qi in the martial arts were employed by Akira Toriyama and mixed with traditional Buddhist and Daoist spiritual views.
This particular section of the Divine Combat chapter explains the concept of Zenkai Power, and what it means both within Dragon Ball and traditional cultivation practices of East Asia.
Zenkai Power
Goku Fires the Kamehameha
Zenkai is a term used by fans to refer to the sudden power up that occurs to a Saiyan after they recover from a near death experience. Saiyans are the only ones with the genetic potential for Zenkai, but anyone with Saiyan cells in their body is able to experience a Zenkai.
The Dragon World is one in which fighting and martial arts are the primary form of cultivation recognized and supported by the gods.
The Saiyans are primed for development in the Closed Fist style of cultivation. They learn by fighting and mature through physical conflict. They do not study a set of teachings, nor do they specifically try to improve their character through looking inward and letting go of attachments. They increase their power as they train with intensity and fight against increasingly difficult external opponents. Yet they sometimes experience mortal blows; the type that would kill a normal man. Upon recovering from these grievous wounds the Saiyan is instilled with even more power, so that they can then defeat their opponent the next time they do battle. It is an accelerated form of evolutionary adaptation, and a large part of what makes them such formidable opponents.
Dragon Ball fans translated Zenkai as “Complete Recovery.” But this translation is incorrect, and there are further meanings to this term within Asian culture, Buddhism and the martial arts.
Potara, Potala, Potaraka
The Potara Earring in Dragon Ball Z
The Potara earrings are a device in Dragon Ball Z introduced near the end of the Majin Buu Saga. They allow one character to fuse together with another and increase their power level dramatically.
Everybody knows and loves them. But is there more to these simple earrings than meets the eye?
When all hope seems lost, Goku is given a Potara earring by Eldar Kai (Japanese: Rou Dai Kaioshin) that allows him to fuse with another person. They look like spherical ball earrings suspended by silver beads attached to a hoop that is placed in the earlobe.
Goku and Vegeta Fuse Together
Goku convinces Vegeta to wear one of the earrings while Goku wears the other. Immediately they are drawn to one another and their two bodies slam together, creating a new superhuman warrior.
The pair combined has the best of Vegeta’s pride and Goku’s rage, creating Vegetto, self-named after the combination of Vegeta and Kakarotto (Goku’s birth given Saiyan name).
According to Kanzentai.com, in The Super Exciting Guide: Story Volume, “On p.63 it describes the Potara fusion as being closer to multiplication rather than simple addition in the way it increases power. Supposedly, Vegetto’s battle power is equivalent to Goku’s battle power multiplied by Vegeta’s. Also according to the introduction of the Super Exciting Guide’s training section, all the information in it is based on data that was supervised by Toriyama, though we have no idea how extensive this supervision was.”
This makes Vegetto the strongest character in the entire manga.
But where did Akira Toriyama come up with the idea of Potara? What’s the story behind them?
Dragon Ball Director Praises Shen Yun
James Wong at Shen Yun
The Shen Yun performing arts company finished its encore tour in Los Angeles on July 11. James Wong, the director of Dragonball: Evolution was in the audience with his family and praised the Shen Yun show.
An article was written for The Epoch Times newspaper to convey his feelings.
From the article:
James said, “I think it’s incredible. The dancers are amazing, the synchronicity of the dances, the tradition, the traditional dances, along with the costumes, is fantastic. I’m really impressed.”
“His most recent film, Dragonball: Evolution (20th Century Fox) is based on the hit comic book and animated series Dragon Ball that finds its roots in traditional Chinese and Japanese culture, notably from Journey to the West, a Chinese classic. The triumphant climax of the epic Journey to the West is retold in Shen Yun as the final performance of the show. The Buddhist Monk Xuanzang and his faithful guardian, The Monkey King, make a glorious return to Tang Dynasty China where they distribute the Buddhist teachings to future generations.”
As a contributor to The Epoch Times I was asked to write this article because of its relationship with Dragon Ball. Shen Yun’s display of authentic traditional culture incorporates The Monkey King legend that inspired Akira Toriyama to create Dragon Ball. And I was happy to help with this unique synchronicity.
The full article: Hollywood Director Recommends Shen Yun: ‘It’s Spectacular’
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